Post-office-box time-indicator.



No. 636,992. Patented Nov. l4, I899. E. M. HOAGLAND &. D. S. RICHARDSON.

POST-OFFICE BOX TIME INDICATQR.

(Application filed Nov. 17, 1898.)

2 Sheets-Sheet (No Model.)

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No. 636,992. Patented Nov. l4, I899. E. M. HUAGLAND &. D. S. RICHARDSON.

POST-0FF|CE BOX TIME INDICATOR.

(Application Med Nov. 17, 1898.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2,

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UNITED STATES PATENT .OFFICE.

ELLERY M. HOAGLAND AND DANIEL S. RICHARDSON, OF OAKLAND, CALI- FORNIA, ASSIGNORS, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE MONTAGUE INDICATOR AND LETTER BOX COMPANY, OF SAN FRAN- CISCO, CALIFORNIA.

POST-OFF lCE-BOX TIME-INDICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 636,992, dated November 14, 1899. Application filed o e ber 17, 1898. Serial No. 696,714. (No model.)

T or whom it may concern:

'Be it known that we, ELLERY M. HOAGLAND and DANIEL S. RICHARDSON, residing at Oakland, county of Alameda, State of California,

citizens of the United States, have invented an Improvement in Post-Office-Box Time-Indicators and we hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the same;

Our invention relates to an attachment for street letter-boxes such as are in use by the Postal Department of the United States Government.

It consists, essentially, of a mechanicallymovable device, a means by which information is exposed through the front of the apparatus to indicate the times when mails are collected from boxes, the outgoing mail with which such collections will connect, and other matter necessary or useful for the depositor to know.

It also comprises the means by which the information is changed after each collection,

so as to show the hour of the next collection. It also comprises details of construction,

which will be more fully explained by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a View of a letter-box with the 0 indicator attached to it. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the letter-box, the separating-wall being broken away to show the indicator mechanism. Fig. 3 is an end view of the roller. Fig. at shows a manner for operating the indicator by hand. Fig. 5 is a modification for operating the indicator.

The object of this invention is to provide a means for giving important information to the public in a clear and concise manner, and also to act as a detector and check and fur nish a box-testin g system by which the movements and faithfulness of postal employees can be ascertained.

The device may either be made integral 5 with the post-office boxes when the latter are constructed or it may be applied. to boxes already in use by simply attaching'to the front of the ordinary street letter-boxes in use by the Postal Department of the United States Government. In the latter case it bolts directlyto the face or front of the letter-box, as shown at A, and may be made of any size or adjusted to boxes of any dimensions. In the present case it is shown having a width and length conforming to the front of the letter-box to which is attached, occupying the space below the roll or drop for mail and covering the surface inclosed by the beading which runs around the front of the box. The depth may be two inches or any suitable or convenient depth for the purpose. The box is also provided with a front vertical partition A, forming a separated chamber or space in which the inner equipment of the indicator is located, and also has a vertical partition A near one end, forming between itself and the outer side of the box a separator chamber or space, in which the actuating devices of the indicator are located, said box having an opening A in one end wall, through which access is had to the shaft of one of the rollers hereinafter described. The inner equipment of the indicator is mainly located in the chamher or space formed between the vertical partition A and front of the box, and. it consists of two rollers B B, one near the top and the other near the bottom of the inclosed space. Either drum or roller,and preferably the lower one, may have its shaft ends vertically movable in guide-slots b, so that it can be adjusted for the tension of the driving-chains and the belt. The rollers may be of any suitable or desired material and diameter and are journaled horizontally in their respective positions across the box, and an endless ribbon, chain, or belt C, made from any material, is

fitted to be'carried by these rollers, or, if preferred, sprocket-wheels with corresponding chains or bands may be applied to each end of the rollers, the belts in either case carrying printed announcements or notices which are to be displayed one after the other in regular succession by means of an opening D, which is made of suitable dimensions for the purpose, ordinarily about six inches in length by one inch in vertical depth, this opening being made through the front of the indicator near the top. This opening is preferably covered by glass of sufficient thickness to procoat the movable parts beneatlnand j ust above 5 the opening and preferably permanently formed in the metal of which the case is made are imprinted the words The next collection from this box will be made at These words may be varied in any suitable manner,

the object being to make them conspicuous, and they stand just above the open slot through which the announcements relating to the time of collection and despatch of mails appear. Thus through the opening beneath the upper roller may appear the following: 2.15 p. m. Connecting with outgoing mails from Station D at 3.30 p. m. This an nouncement will stand until the collector comes at 2.15 to take the mail from the box, when the so indicator will be turned to the hour of the next collection. The succeeding collector will in his turn move the indicator forward, and so on through the entire service of the box.

The construction is such that the indicator can only be operated when the letter-box to which it is attached isopened. It is not accessible to the public, nor is it possiblefor any unauthorized person to change it or interfere in any way with its mechanism.

The device by which the indicator is operated may vary mechanically to suit the construction of the box or fancy of the manufacturer. It may be operated automatically either by the opening or closing of the box.

Thus in the present construction of letterboxes when the hinged tray E is dropped, so as to open the box for the collection of the mail, the flange of the tray may actuate a lever either when the tray falls or when it is closed, and this lever F connects through rod G with a slide H, located in the chamber or space between thepartition A and the end of the box, said slide having a portion immediately opposite the end of one of the rollers and adapted to cover and uncover the opening A by which access maybe had to the end -of the roller B. This slide may be released by the fall of the tray and fall by gravitation,

5o exposing the end of the roller,which can then be turned by hand, if desired, or the connection maybe made by pawl-and-ratchet mechanism I, which will automatically turn the roller, and thus advance the endless belt carrying the announcements. The act of closing the letter-box reverses the operation and closes the slide, if that has been used, and this operation of closing may also actuate the pawl-and-ratchet mechanism, as previously described, so that when the box has been closed the announcement for next collection will be made and cannot be again interfered with except by an authorized person.

In Fig. 5 is shown a curved spring-pressed rack J, engaging a pinion upon the lower driven shaft and carried by the tray E, so

that when the tray is moved in onedirection the rack will engage and turn the pinion and advance the belt; but when the tray is moved in the opposite direction the spring K yields and allows the rack to pass over the pinion without acting upon it.

Figs. 4 and 5 show bevel-gears L, by which either drum is turned, and a thumb-piece M upon the short shaft of one of the gears enables the operator to advance the belt by hand whenever the box is opened.

The attachment is designed to apply to boxes without in any manner interfering with the present system of operation or impairing their security.

In addition to the necessary information as to collection and departure of mails at any hour of the day or night it serves as a timedetector and check upon the fidelity of the collector, so that if there are any omissions in the prompt collection from the boxes the figures exposed will show at once that the collector has been negligent of his duty. It thus does away with the system of box-test- 9o ing by means of decoy cards and letters, which has hitherto been the only means of ascertaining whether or not an employee is faithfully performing his duty, as the figures remaining exposed can be read by any one and at once compared with the actual time. It also simplifies the work of official inspectors, who may walk through a district and tell at a glance whether or not the collector is doing his duty.

The device is ornamental in appearance and in no way mars the appearance of the boxes or renders them unsightly.

As shown in the drawings, the lower roller B is practically suspended by the belt from the upper one and is movable up or down in the guide-slots b, whereby its weight acts to keep the belt properly extended, and at the. same time it allows any one or more of the sections of the belt upon which the announce- I I0 ments are placed being taken out or new ones added in case the hours of collection are changed without in any way affecting the operation of the mechanism or altering its adjustment. II

The belt shown in Fig. 2 is of the slatted character, and the slats have reduced ends 0, which are removably fitted to the link of the side chains, whereby upon pressing the chains apart laterally or npturning one of the ends d of any of the individual links thereof any one or more of the slats or sections may be removed and a new one added to suit changes of hours without leaving blank spaces or changing the operating mechanisms, since the belt-strips being all of the same width they all fit the carrying-drum, and any change in the length of the belt is compensated by raising or lowering the bottom roller, which, being only held in place by its suspension in the :30 lower bight of the belt, acts to keep the belt properly extended by gravitation.

IOO

esaeee 2 Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a letter-collecting box, a box having a main chamber for mail-matter and having vertical partitions across its front and end and forming independent chambers, said front chamber having a transverse open slot through its front, rollers journaled in the upper and lower portions of the front supplemental chamber and an endless belt to pass around said rollers and comprising endless chains and slats or sections bearing dates of collection thereon, a tilting discharge-door leading to the main chamber of the box, a vertical slide in the end supplemental chamber of said box and adapted to cover and uncover an opening in the end wall of said box and means whereby the slide is operated and the belt advanced to successively expose the slats or sections bearing the announcements.

2. A letter-box comprising a box having a vertical partition across its front and a vertical partition across one end, forming supplemental compartments, an endless belt within the front supplemental compartment and having announcements thereon, and rollers for said belt, one of said rollers having its end mounted in vertical guides in the end walls of said front compartment, and the other roller having one end extending into the supplemental end compartment, a tilting discharge-door leading to the main compartment of the box and a slide in the said supplemental end compartment actuated by said door to cover an opening in the end of the box in line with the extended end of one of said rollers, said slide dropping by gravity to uncover the opening and expose the end of said roller when the discharge-door is opened.

3. A letter-box having a vertical partition across its front and a vertical partition across one end forming supplemental compartments, rollers and an endless belt mounted in the supplemental front compartment said belt having detachable slats with announcements thereon and one of said rollers having anend extended through the vertical end partition, a tilting discharge-door leading to the main compartment, a slide in the supplemental end compartment connected with said door, and means whereby the belt is actuated by the door to expose successive announcements.

4. In a letter-collecting box, a main receptacle with receiving and discharge openings and rollers, a supplemental independent chamber extending across the front of the box having a transverse open slot across its front, a roller journaled at the top of said chamber, a second roller having its journals entering and guided in slots in the sides of the chamber, an endless traveling belt composed of endless chains or bands and detachable sections having times of removal imprinted thereon, said sections having their reduced end portions fitting between members of the chains and said bottom roller acting by gravitation to keep the belt extended, and movable up or down in the guide-slot.

5. In aletter-collecting box, a main receptacle with receiving and discharge openings and doors or gates, a supplemental independent chamber, extending across the front having a transverse open-slot across its front, the

rollers journaled at top and bottom within said chamber, an endless traveling belt com posed of endless chains or bands and detachable sections having times of collecting im printed thereon adapted to be exposed successively through the open slot, said sections having their ends reduced so as to fit between 7 individual links of the endless chains, a pawland-ratchet and intermediate-lever connec= tion with the hinged swinging discharge-door whereby the mechanism is advanced by each opening and closing of the door.

In witness whereof We have hereunto set our hands.

ELLERY M. HOAGLAND. DANIEL S. RICHARDSON.

Witnesses:

S. H. NoURsE, J ESSIE O. BRODIE. 

